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CHAPTER IMPROVEMENT OF CONTENT OF- EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENTOF ABILITY

The so called 'language laboratory' was first developed As a hew concept in the teaching of modern foreign languages. Its success has led to extension of its use in teaching many other subjects. The basic concept of the 'language laboratory' in the learning of a foreign language requires, first, listening to the language spoken correctly and with proper accent, second, diligent practice in speaking the language correctly and with proper accent, and third, reading the language.

The language laboratory itself is a larger than average classroom divided into a space for ordinary classroom activities, with pupils' desks and chairs, a teacher's desk and chair, blackboards, and a teacher's master tape recorder control; and a space provided with a sound-dampened pupil booths each equipped with a tape recorder and a hearing connection to the teacher's master tape recorder.

This educational innovation has been adopted most extensively in the United States, and installations have become very popular recently. The number of language laboratories in the nation's schools has grown dramatically over the past 5 years --from a few dozen to well over 1,500 in higher educational institutions and to 4,000 in elementary and secondary schools.

In Japan, a considerable number of colleges 'and universities are equipped with the language laboratory, and a growing number of secondary schools have been interested in setting it up for students' use in recent years. This is a world-wide modern tendency strengthened by the growing importance of skills in modern foreign languages. In European countries such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland and France, great interest 'is developing in the installation under the influence of the good results achieved in the United States. In the U.S.S.R., too, the language laboratory is being put to practical use.

School 'education today is very rich in the kinds of teaching materials and teaching aids in use, and accordingly the teaching method itself has become complicated. To offer education in response to changing circumstances, it is necessary for a teacher to cooperate with each other by accepting responsibility for teaching those special subjects for which they have special ability or training. Recently, in the upper grades of elementary schools in Japan, the practice of employing specialized teachers for specific subjects has increased. A similar move has been noticed in the United States in recent years. It seems that a new trend of teacher's specialization in single subject for the purpose of enhancing the quality of instruction is developing. Another marked trend is the increase in the use of team teaching, or teacher teams. Team teaching is defined as a plan whereby two or more teachers are jointly responsible for the instruction of the same group of pupils. 'This is a flexible teaching method, involving either group instruction or individualized instruction as the occasion may demand.

The above mentioned are noted as new trends in teaching methods among other countries. To improve the quality of education and expand effective instruction in out country, it is necessary to encourage much more research on teaching methods and to develop new teaching methods suit-able for our educational conditions.